Sunday’s Racing Tips – El Rio is expected to continue his progression over fences at Sandown

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It was a solid enough day on Saturday with a winner and a placed finish. Beau Balko was a big drifter, winning at 9/2 after being tipped up at 5/2 and Waxing Gibbous was placed for us at 12/1.

Rizzel's Tips

El Rio 15/8 (2pt) – Sandown 1.05

I think it is hard not to be impressed by El Rio with his Huntingdon performance just over a month ago on just his second chase start, as he won comfortably and it would've been a domination job if it wasn't for some bad mistakes over the last two fences.

Today's opposition is tougher and it will test El Rio more than his previous encounters over fences, but I think he is up to the job. His jumping up until the final two fences was immaculate, and I think it showed what a strong engine he has and how well ahead of the handicapper he was. He has gone up 6 lbs for that win, but based on what I saw, I don't think that will be enough to slow his progress.

The Sandown back straight will be the acid test for his jumping, with the railway fences often causing problems for experienced chasers, so if he handles them with ease, I do struggle to see him beaten. Of the others, I thought Belgarum was the one to be wary of, mostly due to the form of the Joe Tizzard yard, which has been firing in winners left, right, and centre for the last couple of weeks. That horse was pulled up last time out off the same mark he runs off today, but surely that was too bad to be true, so I might even chuck a few quid on the forecast.

Moroder 7/1 – Sandown 3.25

My second selection is Moroder for this four-runner field Veterans' Handicap Chase.

The claims for victory are definitely more visible for the other three runners in the race, with all three having close linked form from their Chepstow race which Copperhead won, but I did think that Moroder was worth a chance off a reducing mark and that he is being slightly disrespected in the market.

Moroder's current ability is definitely up in the air based on his seasonal reappearance at Exeter where he was eventually pulled up. But, that was his first run in 188 days and I think you've got to look a tad deeper before completely writing him off. His form last year was fairly atrocious, but he ended the season with a 2nd/14 in a Class 2 chase at Cheltenham, which is enough for me to believe there is life in the old boy and off a 1lb lower mark, with a recent run under his belt, he was the play in this race.

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